SHANGHAI/NEW YORK — At 24 years old, Zhang Ru is not a target customer of the Shanghai community dining hall where she has become a regular. Clean and brightly lit, the eatery typically caters to the elderly with its cheap meals of stir-fried Chinese cabbage and braised pork belly.
But over the past year, the place has become a frequent haunt for Zhang. “Eating here gives me better value for money,” said the new recruit at a software company. “It helps by keeping my food bills below 100 yuan ($14) daily,” she added, stressing she needs to save for the future.
A waitress at the dining hall said that these days, young people like Zhang make…